Aircraft and other complex apparatuses include a myriad of interoperating components. Many subsystems of components are designed for maintenance and/or repair. When such a subsystem or component performs unexpectedly (e.g., it becomes non-responsive or functions with degraded performance), the operation of the aircraft may be impacted and the aircraft may be subject to unscheduled maintenance and down time. As an example, valves in the environmental control systems of aircraft may become non-operational and may consequently result in strain on the environmental control system, fuel waste, aircraft down time, excess troubleshooting, strain on the replacement part supply, and/or potential stress on other aircraft components and systems. The consequences of an unexpected need to repair or repair of the non-performing component may be much greater than the cost, in time and resources, to repair or replace the non-performing component.
For many components, operators currently have no insight into the health of the components. Moreover, subsystems and components may behave erratically and unexpectedly well before complete non-performance. The behavior of components that may lead to non-performance may manifest as merely non-specific system degradation and related effects.
Aircraft may be available for maintenance and diagnosis only between flights. If a component performs unexpectedly during a flight, the non-performing component may require an abrupt end to the flight, necessitating a return trip for repair or at least temporary abandonment of the aircraft.
After a component has performed unexpectedly during a flight and resulted in noticeable system performance degradation, maintenance staff may troubleshoot the aircraft function and eventually identify the non-performing part as a contributor to the observed system performance degradation. The unscheduled down time and maintenance to identify the issue and to repair or replace the non-performing component may lead to resource conflicts with the aircraft. The aircraft typically is unavailable for use during troubleshooting and repair. Additionally, the unscheduled down time and maintenance may lead to strains on the scheduling of maintenance personnel due to excess time troubleshooting and identifying the issue, and may lead to strains on the supply chain for replacement parts because the need for parts may not be predictable. This reactive response to non-performing components may be inefficient when compared to scheduled maintenance or a proactive response to impending component non-performance.